8.  The applicant is a limited company specialising in petroleum products. Its predecessor was called Greek petroleum, oil and lubricants – Industrial and commercial limited company (EKO AVEE).
9.  On 8 May 1987 the applicant company paid the tax authorities 137,020,491 drachmas (GDR) (approximately 402,338 euros (EUR)) as an advance payment on the income tax due for the tax year 1987. On 11 May 1987 the tax authorities granted the applicant company a 10% reduction on the amount paid, as a bonus for paying the full advance payment due without requesting to pay by instalments. Accordingly, the advance tax payment ultimately paid by the applicant company amounted to GDR 123,387,306 (approximately EUR 362,105).
10.  On 10 May 1988 the applicant company filed its tax return with the tax authorities for the year 1987. The return showed that the company had sustained a substantial loss of profit, which meant that the authorities had to refund the applicant company the amount paid as an advance payment since it had been unduly paid.
11.  On 24 June 1988 and 9 December 1991 the applicant company sought a refund of GDR 123,387,306 from the Athens tax authorities dealing with limited companies, which was the amount levied in income tax for the year 1987. On an unspecified date the State refused to comply with its request.
12.  On 27 December 1991 the applicant company brought proceedings against the State in the Athens Administrative Court. It requested a refund, under section 38(2) of Law no. 1473/1984, of the sum of GDR 123,387,306 that had been unduly paid in income tax. It also claimed default interest on that amount accruing from 10 May 1988, when the State had been informed that the tax had been unduly paid, up until payment. The applicant company based its claims on Article 345 of the Civil Code, which provides for the payment of default interest in the event of a pecuniary debt.
13.  Law no. 2120/1993 was published on 4 March 1993. Section 3 of that Law provides that the State will pay interest in the event of a refund of tax unduly paid. With regard to cases pending at the time of publication of the Law, it provides that interest shall start to accrue on the first day of the month following a period of six months after its publication.
14.  On 12 November 1993, prior to the hearing in the case listed for 23 September 1994, the State refunded the applicant company GDR 123,387,306, which corresponded to the tax it had paid. In its submissions before the Administrative Court, the applicant company limited its claims to statutory interest for the delay in paying the refund.
15.  On 26 January 1995 the Administrative Court declared the applicant company’s application inadmissible (decision no. 512/1995). On 3 November 1995 the applicant company appealed.
16.  On 6 June 1996 the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal declared the applicant company’s appeal admissible, but held that it was ill-founded on the ground that at the material time the Code for the Collection of Public Revenues did not provide that the State was liable to pay interest in the event of a delay in refunding tax unduly paid. Moreover, the court held that Article 345 of the Civil Code did not apply to the present case, since the provision governed only civil-law relations (decision no. 4042/1996).
17.  On 27 June 1997 the applicant company lodged an appeal on points of law.
18.  On 8 November 2000, by judgment no. 3547/2000, the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the appeal. It found that the State was not bound to pay late-payment interest in the event of tax unduly paid. Such an obligation did not derive from the relevant provisions of the Civil Code relating to late-payment interest because these did not apply to a debt arising from a public-law relationship. Furthermore, the Supreme Administrative Court pointed out that no such obligation had been incumbent on the State prior to Law no. 2120/1993, published on 4 March 1993 (see paragraphs 21 and 22 below). That judgment was finalised and certified by the court on 26 October 2001.